Strawberries are a popular fruit for both commercial cultivation and home gardening. The ‘Honeoye’ cultivar is a popular choice, particularly in northern climates, due to its reliable production and exceptional winter hardiness. This variety produces large, firm, rich red berries that are excellent for fresh eating, freezing, and preserves. Understanding the specific fruiting cycle of ‘Honeoye’ is key to a successful harvest.
The Honeoye Production Cycle
The ‘Honeoye’ strawberry is classified as a June-bearing plant, meaning it is not everbearing. It is a short-day plant; flower bud formation is triggered by the shorter days and cooler temperatures of autumn. These buds remain dormant over winter and develop into flowers and fruit the following spring.
This production cycle results in a single, concentrated harvest period each year. The fruit ripens over a period typically lasting about two to four weeks, usually beginning in late spring or early summer. This pattern yields a high volume of fruit all at once, which is ideal for gardeners who wish to process large batches for jam or freezing.
Understanding Strawberry Bearing Habits
The classification of strawberries is based on their response to the length of daylight, which controls when they produce flowers. June-bearing varieties, like ‘Honeoye,’ are short-day plants that set their flower buds only when daylight hours are short. This photoperiodic response ensures the plant focuses its energy on vegetative growth during the summer before producing next year’s flower buds in the fall.
In contrast, everbearing and day-neutral varieties have different flowering responses. Everbearing plants typically produce two or three smaller harvests throughout the growing season, yielding a crop in the spring and another in the late summer or fall. Day-neutral varieties are less dependent on day length and can produce fruit continuously from spring until the first hard frost.
Maximizing the Honeoye Harvest
Since ‘Honeoye’ is a June-bearing variety, maximizing the yield requires specific management focused on the plant’s growth pattern. During the first year after planting, remove all flowers that appear, a practice called pinching. This action redirects the plant’s energy away from fruit production and toward developing a strong, deep root system, which leads to higher yields in the second year and beyond.
‘Honeoye’ plants naturally produce numerous runners, which are horizontal stems that root to form new plants, resulting in a dense ‘matted row’ system. While a certain density is beneficial, excess runners should be managed to prevent overcrowding, which can reduce berry size and increase disease risk. Immediately after the concentrated harvest is complete, the bed must be renovated by mowing the foliage and thinning the plants to encourage new, vigorous growth for the following year’s crop.